The Enemy

Picón, Jacinto Octavio, 1852-1923Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.0

Word count: 544K words
Chapters: 55

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.El enemigo by Jacinto Octavio PicónAuthor: Picón, Jacinto Octavio, 1852-1923,Language: Spanish, Class: PQ: Language and Literatures: Romance literatures: French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Release Date: Jun 17, 2009

Editor's review

El enemigo is a novel by the Spanish writer Jacinto Octavio Picón (1852–1923), made available as a public-domain ebook through Project Gutenberg. Picón was a novelist within the nineteenth-century Spanish realist and naturalist literary currents, and his works often observe social customs and human psychology. As a public-domain book in the original Spanish, its value lies not in a complete introduction or annotations but in providing a source text that can be freely read, quoted, and studied at no cost. For readers studying the nineteenth-century Spanish novel, comparative literature, or the Spanish language, it offers an original sample of moderate length whose language bears the marks of its era. It is best read as a historical document: pay attention to narrative perspective, the social ideas in characters' dialogue, and the syntax and vocabulary of written Spanish of the period. Because this is a public-domain electronic resetting, typography and proofreading depend on project volunteers; consult other editions or dictionaries for difficult passages. Suitable as a course companion or for independent extensive reading, not as a leisure read seeking plot excitement.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Spanish majors who need supplementary extensive-reading material in nineteenth-century Spanish source texts
Literature students researching Spanish realist fiction for textual analysis
Digital humanities enthusiasts interested in public-domain ebooks and Project Gutenberg
Advanced Spanish learners who wish to encounter Spanish social-custom themes in the original

Not a good fit for

Absolute beginners in Spanish who need annotations and translation support
Casual readers who prefer fast-paced contemporary plots and have limited patience for classical narrative
Serious researchers who need an authoritative critical edition or a full scholarly introduction

Reading tips

Read the first two chapters first, noting unfamiliar words and period expressions, then decide whether to read closely or extensively.
Read alongside a Spanish dictionary and background material on nineteenth-century Spanish history to lower the threshold of comprehension.
If used for a course, keep brief notes by chapter on character relationships and narrative perspective.
Download and compare multiple formats; for typographical doubts, consult other public-domain editions.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this book in Chinese or Spanish?

The text is in the original Spanish. Project Gutenberg hosts the public-domain source text and provides no Chinese translation, so readers need some ability to read Spanish.

Do I need to know the author's biography before reading?

Not strictly. Some familiarity with the nineteenth-century Spanish realist literary context in which Picón worked helps, but you can also read the text first and then fill in background on the author and period, avoiding preconceptions.

Does the electronic edition have annotations or an introduction?

Usually there are no systematic annotations or scholarly introduction; it is a resetting of a public-domain text. For historical allusions or unusual expressions, consult dictionaries and background sources yourself.

Is it suitable for learning Spanish?

It suits intermediate and advanced learners for extensive reading and for building written-language and period vocabulary; but the language has a nineteenth-century flavor, so beginners should not use it as a main textbook and should pair it with modern annotated readers.

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About the author

Picón, Jacinto Octavio, 1852-1923 Author

Jacinto Octavio Picón (1852–1923) was a Spanish writer active from the late nineteenth to the early twentieth century. Public information about his life is limited, and details such as his nationality and education cannot be reliably confirmed, so knowledge of him rests mainly on the seven works held in the collection. He wrote novels as well as literary criticism and biography; his Vida y obras de don Diego Velázquez reflects his interest in the Spanish painting tradition. Cuentos de mi tiempo sketches social customs in short form, while Lázaro: casi novela and Tres mujeres explore themes of love and morality with delicate narrative and attention to character psychology and everyday scenes. His works draw largely on Spanish urban life, are realistic with a sentimental tinge, and offer material for studying the literary taste of his era.